Gum-impregnated dental floss



United States Patent 2,700,636 GUM-IMPREGNATED DENTAL FLOSS WilliamHoward Ashton, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to Johnson & Johnson, acorporation of New Jersey No Drawing. Original application May 14, 1949,Serial No. 93,413, now Patent No. 2,667,443, dated January 26, 1954.Divided and this application January 13, 1953, Serial No. 331,111

7 Claims. 01. 167-93) The present invention relates to dental floss anddental tape impregnated with chemicals for the purpose of increasing theresistance of teeth to deteriorating influences.

The interproximal regions are of particular concern to the dentalprofession where continual prophylaxis should be maintained to insuregreatest resistance to deteriorating conditions. Particles of food(carbohydrates, meat fibers, etc.) are trapped in these regions andoften become incapable of removal by natural reflexes. Dental floss ordental tape is used to remove these trapped bodies from these regionswhere other means such as brushing cannot penetrate. Subsequentdisintegration of these food particles, if not removed, provide a mediafor the growth of detrimental microorganisms which give ofi acids, orenzymes which cause acids, and therefore account for deterioratingconditions in these interproximal regions.

It is, therefore, an object of the invention to incorporate chemicalagents in dental floss designed to assist in maintaining conditionswhich are beneficial to the teeth. More specifically, the inventioninvolves the incorporation or impregnation of dental floss or dentaltape, or any similar suitable yarn or tape, with chemicals which willact as medicaments to:

1. Assist in enamel growth and thereby increase resistance todetrimental conditions;

2. Protect enamel or dentine by the preferential coating of insolubleprecipitates;

3. React with, neutralize, sequester, buffer, or counteract acids whichare present in the saliva or those which are produced therein bybacteria or subsequent enzymatic disintegration of foreign particleslodged in the interproximal regions of the teeth.

Sodium biphosphate up to 20% by weight can be incorporated into yarns toassist in the topical application of this salt to the teeth or theirinterproximal regions. When a yarn has a coating or a binder such asbeeswax, a petroleum wax, a resin, resinous wax-like material or a watersoluble wax-like material (e. g., solid ethylene glycol polymer orderivative) this salt may be incorporated in the binder. Water solublecellulose derivatives such as methyl cellulose or sodium carboxymethylcellulose are also efiicient binders for yarns impregnated with thissalt.

Such salts or mixtures may be incorporated or impregnated in the yarn bydry mechanical impregnation of the powdered salt or mixture; solution inwater of the salt and water soluble binder in which the yarn is soaked;mixture of the salt in a molten bath of the binder through which theyarn is drawn and subsequently allowed to cool to permit solidificationof the binder and salt mixture.

There has been developed a method of coating the teeth which is felt toproduce an impenetrable film over the enamel and thus make it moreresistant to attack. This method consists in coating the treated teethwith zinc chloride and subsequently with potassium ferrocyanide whichpresumably forms an insoluble precipitate of zinc ferrocyanide as aprotective coating. The use of zinc chloride has also been investigated.Zinc chloride appears to have an alfinity for the proteolytic componentsof the teeth.

Zinc chloride or potassium ferrocyanide may be incorporated orimpregnated in dental floss or dental tape by the methods described inthe above section as well as with any of the binders mentioned.

Chemicals may be incorporated or impregnated in dental floss or dentaltape which when forced into the mterproximal regions of the teeth willneutralize, sequester, bufler, or counteract any acids occluded therein.

Compounds which may be used and applied in or onto the yarn or fabric bythe above described methods, with olr gvithout any of the binders ormixtures thereof, inc u e:

1. Aliphatic amines, e. g., tricetyl amine; 2. Cyclic amines, e. g.,hexamethylene tetramine; 3. Fatty acid amides containing less than 25carbon atoms, e. g., stearamide; 4. Basic amino acids, e. g., lysine; 5.Polypeptides, e. g., glycylglycine; 6. Inorganic basic salts such as(NH4)2CO3, Na2HPO4,

(NH4)2HPO4, CHsCOONa, KzHPOi, etc.; t 7. Compounds which will give riseto basic products as a result of reaction or disintegration in theinterproximal regions, e. g., urea or biuret; 8. Mixtures of any of theabove to total 20% of the yarn; 9. The specific combination of ureadibasic ammonium phosphate as disclosed by Kesel; 10. Coating withcellulosic ether amides to act as neutralizing agents.

by weight the manner in which it may be carried into practice,

several specific examples will now be described in detail. It should beclearly understood, however, that these examples are included solely forpurposes of illustration and not with the object of delineating thebreadth of the mvention or limiting the scope of the appended claims.

Example I.Dry impregnation A. Urea or dibasic ammonium phosphate or anymixtures thereof in the dry state and finely divided condition isimpregnated in silk or nylon of 300 to 2500 totaldenier by beingmechanically forced into the yarn.

This impregnation is accomplished best by the use of wooden wringerrolls, preferably end grain maple, onto which, or prior to which, theurea dibasic ammonium phosphate is dusted, on the yarn or rollers, orpicked up thereby. The vertical pressure of the rollers is adjusted toforce the dry urea dibasic ammonium phosphate into the interstices ofthe yarn depending on the yarn or the torque of the wringer rolls. Theimpregnation proceeds satisfactorily up to 20% by weight urea dibasicammonium phosphate based on the weight of the yarn. A desirable degreeof impregnation is 3 to 7% on a dry weight basis. Specific mixtures of 5parts urea to 3 parts dibasic ammonium phosphate are dusted onto themoving wringer rolls, through which a Welded yarn, e. g., Nymo, isdrawn.

B. Zinc chloride, potassium ferrocyanide, or any mixtures thereof areimpregnated as above described, into dry silk or a welded nylon monocordsuch as that sold by Belding Heminway Corticelli, under the trade-markOther fibers are also satisfactory as previously Nymoj: described.

Example lI.-Water solution impregnation mentioned"Ny mo 1s mixture.conslsting of:

20 parts (NHs)2HPO4 20 parts (NHzhCO l -part sodium carboxymethylcellulose 0.1 part C4H9CH(C2H5).CH2SO4N3 (Te'rgitol O8) 200 parts water.0. The above formulation is used except that in place of sodiumcarboxymethyl cellulose, one of the following or related binders ormixtures thereof is employed:

(1) Glue (4) Tragacanth (2) Gelatin (5) Gum arabic (3) Methyl cellulose(6) Algin Example Ill-Jmpregnation with waxes A. Medicaments are mixedwith molten wax through which theyarnis drawn and the waxcoatingcontaining the salts allowed to set, resulting in a yarn bound with waxcontaining the medicaments in solid suspension, solid solution, orpartial solution. For example, dry crystalline urea, dibasic ammoniumphosphate or other solid compounds mentioned previously of 100 mesh orfiner is. added to molten beeswax maintained at 10 F. to 50 F. above thesetting point. 35-filament end 70 denier or total 1050 denier nylon yarnis drawn through the .wax medicament mixture containing byweight ofmedicament. A waxed medicament coated yarn results yielding up to 60%coating per weight of untreated yarn.

B. Medicaments are sifted or dusted onto the waxed yarn while wax isstill semi-solid or tacky enough to provide adequate adhesion.

A mixture of 5 'parts urea to 3 parts dibasic ammonium phosphate issifted onto 1050 total denier wax coated nylon yarn at a high enoughtemperature to maintain the wax soft. Dusting is controlled to give-asalt content of 6% of the total weight of treated yarn. Cooling belowits setting temperature sets the-wax on the yarn and the medicaments aredistributed thereon.

Another method of treating the above consists in drawingthe'waxed yarnat ahigh enough temperature to maintain the wax soft through a pile ofthe sifted medicaments.

. Waxes giving suitable adhesion are:

Beeswax- Microcrystalline waxes Synthetic waxes Water-soluble waxesSolid .polyethyleneglycols (Carbowax,) are suitable vehicles andwatensolublebinders for impregnated yarns.

Impregnation is efiectedusing a mixture consisting of:

40 parts Carbowax 4000 10 parts =Carbowax 1540 5 "parts (NH2)2CO:(NI-I4) zHPO': :5:3

treated by drawing it through a 4' Example IV.-Resin binders andimpregnation Yarns to be impregnated with medicaments using a resinousbinder are drawn through a suitable solution of the resin, the solventserving as a vehicle as well as being volatile. After the resin coatingis applied the solvent is evaporated and temperature regulated andvelocity of yarn controlled to apply the dry medicaments at a pointwhere the resin is just under cured or still tacky enough to retain themedicaments on the surface of the yarn. Subsequent cooling or bakingconverts the resin to stable form.

Nylon yarn is drawn through a solution containing 64% water, 31%resorcinol-formaldehyde, 5% formaldehyde at 70 F. The coated yarn isheated at 180 F. for two minutes or until curing has just occurred.Finely divided medicament is then dusted onto the coated yarn or forcedtherein by rollers resulting in a resin bound and coated yarn treatedwith medicament. Other resins may be substitutedforresorcinol-formaldehyde.

It will be apparent to those skilledzin the art that many variations maybe made in the procedures .andcompositions described in the foregoingexamples,.without departing from the spiritor scope of the inventiveconcept. I, therefore, intend to be limited only insofar. as requiredbythe prior art and the appended patent claims.

This is a divisionalapplication of my copending application SerialNumber 93,413, filed May 14, 1949, now Patent No. 2,667,443.

The claims are:

1. Dental floss comprising a single strand of material impregnatedwithamedicament mixture of urea and dibasieammonium phosphate in awater-soluble solid gum.

2. Dental floss comprising a single strand of material impregnated withfrom 0.1% .to 20% by weight of a medicament mixture of urea and dibasicammonium phosphate inmethyl cellulose.

3. Dental floss .comprisinga single strand of material impregnated withfrom 0.1%. to 20% by weight of a medicament mixture of urea. and dibasicammonium phosphate in sodium ,carboxymethyl cellulose.

4. Dental. floss comprising a single strand of material impregnated witha dental medicament ina water-soluble solid gum.

5. Dental floss comprising .a single strand of material impregnated withadental medicament in a water-soluble solid vegetable gum.

6. Dental floss comprising a single strand of material impregnated withadental medicament in a water-soluble solid cellulosic gum.

7. Dental floss comprisinga single strand of material impregnated with adental medicament in methyl cellulose.

References Cited inthefile of this patent UNITED STATES'PATENTS 185,666Brown Dec. 26, 1876 1,069,874 Hanscomb Aug. 12, 1913 1,285,988 GudebrodNov. 26, 1918 1,839,486 Lawton Jan. 5, 1932 1,989,895 Gilder. Feb. 5,1935 2,224,489 Rosenbroek Dec. 10, 1940 2,464,755 Taub Mar. 15, 1949OTHER REFERENCES Seydel, Cotton, vol. (1946), No. 8, pp. 63-66, 69;13109. 9, pp. 65-69,; No. 11.. Pp. 59-63; No. 12,, PP 82-4,

1. DENTAL FLOSS COMPRISING A SINGLE STRAND OF MATERIAL IMPREGNATED WITH A MEDICAMENT MIXTURE OF UREA AND DIBASIC AMMONIUM PHOSPHATE IN A WATER-SOLUBLE SOLID GUM. 